The Stars pulled off an overtime win on the Chicago Blackhawks at home Sunday afternoon.
Dallas kicked off the matchup with two new players on the ice. Defenseman Tyler Meyers of the Vancouver Canucks and forward Michael Bunting of the Nashville Predators were traded to the Stars this past week before the trade deadline passed Friday afternoon.
Fresh off a shootout loss to the league-leading Colorado Avalanche, Dallas took on the Chicago Blackhawks, hoping to gain some ground on the third worst team in the NHL.
Chicago, however, had other plans. The team opened up scoring seven minutes into the first when Tyler Bertuzzi tipped the puck launched by Artyom Levshunov past Casey DeSmith. Not long after, Sam Rinzel added another goal to the Blackhawks’ tally.
After a taxing loss to Colorado Friday night, head coach Glen Gulutzan said he noticed some fatigue in his group yesterday and today.
“I thought we played hard, with good energy, but I just didn’t think we had quite the pop,” Gulutzan said. “This coaching staff was a little worried about that coming into this afternoon game. So we’re going to maybe reevaluate what we’re doing tomorrow.”
Dallas headed to the power play not long after when Nick Lardis tripped Jason Robertson, but Chicago held them scoreless. Nathan Bastian changed this when he deflected a shot from Lian Bichsel and got the Stars on the board under three minutes before the period ended.
Both teams had a slow second period, with the Blackhawks recording their first shot on goal in the frame fifteen minutes in. Dallas got a power play chance after Wyatt Kaiser got called for interference on Justin Hryckowian, but could not connect with the net.
The Stars found some momentum right as the third began, as Bunting forced a turnover on Alex Vlasic and slid the puck towards Mavrik Bourque, who put it past Arvid Soderblom. It was Bunting’s first point as a Dallas Star and Bourque’s 13th goal of the season.
“There wasn’t any doubt in this locker room, and it shows,” Bunting said. “Obviously, I’m just getting here, but this team has done this all year. They know to win games and teams that know how to win games come in with a confidence even when you’re down. It showed in the way they communicated in here. You could tell there wasn’t any stress or worry about things.”
Hryckowian, who played twenty minutes last game, has been improving as the season progresses. This showed when Adam Erne got tripped by Louis Crevier and sent Dallas to the power play, giving Hryckowian the chance to score and secure a lead for the Stars.
But the Blackhawks had one final push left in them. They went empty net, and Connor Bedard sent a wrist shot past DeSmith with just under two minutes left of regulation. The game went to overtime, and Miro Heiskanen tallied his ninth goal of the season to give the Stars the win.
Dallas will look to continue this momentum as the squad takes on the Las Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. CT.